Syrian forces tighten their grip

President al-Assad today continued to strengthen his forces as the power struggle with demonstrators continued.

The regime’s army opened fire on the attendees of the funeral held for the deceased who were shot dead on Friday’s march, the biggest in the nation since the uprising started a year ago. One member of the protest was shot dead while three others were injured including a woman who was shot in the head.

Syrian protest in Marea, Aleppo. Around 1500 people turned up making it the country’s largest since the uprising. Photo: AP

The shooting which took place on Saturday proceeded despite urges from China to end the violence and to work alongside his opposition to bring stability to the government.

President al-Assad completely disregarded China’s appeal as they continued to increase pressure on Damascus protestors today, spreading police throughout the capital in a bid to prevent the protest from reaching beyond what the government can handle.

Today, the presence of security forces was heavily felt in the burying of al-Khatib, a young protestor who was killed the day before, in order to prevent the funeral from turning into another protest against al-Assad.

One of the opposition activists reported to have seen around fifteen pickup trucks carrying pro-Assad military, known as shabbiha, surrounding the funeral as they quietly buried the body. Secret police were also present in the streets patrolling on foot as they randomly stopped people to check their identification.

The bombing of Homs also continued today, as the supply of both medicine and food are nearing an end.

Speaking to BBC, Britain’s foreign minister, William Hague feared that Syria is heading towards civil war. He said: “I am worried that Syria is going to slide into a civil war and that our powers to do something about it are very constrained because, as everyone has seen, we have not been able to pass a resolution at the UN Security Council because of Russian and Chinese opposition.”